WASHINGTON (CNN) - Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney Tuesday stepped up his ongoing attack on cities with what he calls sanctuary policies for illegal immigrants - including rival Rudy Giuliani's home city - with a new radio ad set to air in crucial campaign states Iowa and New Hampshire.

"Immigration laws don't work if they're ignored," the ad's announcer states. "That's the problem with cities like Newark, San Francisco and New York City that adopt sanctuary policies. Sanctuary cities become magnets that encourage illegal immigration and undermine secure borders."

"Legal immigration is great," Romney himself says in the ad. "But illegal immigration, that we've got to end. And amnesty is not the way to do it."

He also advocates in the ad cutting back on federal funds to cities that adopt sanctuary policies.

soundoff(45 Responses)

You must be a newbie Shannon (I apologize), I along with many others personally have been called Xenophobic and unbelievably un-American for simply believing that ALL our laws should be obeyed and not picked randomly for enforcement.

I will vote for anyone that wants to straighten out our ILLEGAL immigrant problem that doesn't include amnesty, tightens the border (first), prosecutes the companies that profit from abusing and hiring illegal immigrants and lastly, I want the candidate that will make it easier for the good hard workers who want to LEGALLY become my neighbor and friend, pay taxes and really EARN the American dream.

This same individual who harkens from obviously the "left coast" also feels that if you believe marriage is between one man and women ONLY, but are for civil unions with all attached rights (it is about rights, isn't it?) you are a homophobe.

Since his far left agenda was going to be posted AGAIN here, I figured I would use sarcasm to get my point across and it got your attention for how idiotic it sounds to actually believe those far left thoughts.

Welcome aboard and I am glad we agree on speaking up on this all important issue.

It may not be a bad idea to have a Spanish page so that the illegal immigrants know his stance. Many of the illegals can't read, however, in any language. Being bilingual (English/Spanish) does not necessarily make one sympathetic to the plight of illegal immigrants, most of whom are Spanish speakers. I haven't heard if Mitt (where'd he get that name?) Romney knows Spanish.

I would like one answer, if 'amnesty' as how some think the immigration reform law was, and Romney doesn't think 'amnesty' is the answer on how to get 12 Mil illegals out of our country that are here and have been for the majority most, for years, then how does Romney plan on removing 12 Million already present, from the US? I personlly think these three can pay for all the ad's they want, it still does not change the fact that the Immigration Reform Bill that did not pass, was not 'amensty', the immigrants were going to have to work to become Americans, it was NOT going to handed to them on a silver platter. AND it would have made it MANDATORY for any local officials to have to notify the FED's to any illegal, especially one with a criminal offense like a felony or sexual assults on children, assults or weopon charges, crimes like that, the FEDS would have to be notified, where now, they don't.
Sure would have saved those four innocent children in Newark, NJ, had that Immigration Reform Bill passed.
I see no suggestions, yet, as to HOW to get the already 12 Mil illegal immigrants from this country.
I do believe that cutting back the money for these cities is a good idea. But what I read, about the fence, and tightening the borders and notifiying the Feds, are all of what the immigration reform bill, that so many didn't want to pass, were in the immigration bill. Now they just want, all three of these people in this article, to only enforce and pass the 'bits and pieces' of what was in the bill already. The only way I see of dealing with these 12 Million illegals, is for ALL local Law Enforcement IS to notify the FED's of their KNOWN existance already. And let the FEDS do their jobs.
That is the ONLY way NOW, that they can even hope for our country to be safer, is to let the FEDS do their jobs and 'locals' not hide out OR hire the illegals.
The Feds have NICE Federal laws, they know what to do, IF the locals will let them and not hide them.

This Romney guy is just a flip flopping dunce. When it's convenient he wud tout liberal views, when it's not, he's tout republican views. This guy flip flops and dances with issues worse that MC Hammer doing the 'hammer time'. And why does he normally have so much make-up on?

I am a Democrat from Mass., and would have considered voting for Romney had he not flip-flopped on immigration, abortion, and gay rights.

As the co-founder of a corporation, I had faith in his ability to lead the country in a business-like fashion, a la his governorship and the way Bloomberg runs things in NYC.

I wish he would stay focused on his economic policies and not his unfounded policies on immigration. They are unfounded because he has flip-flopped on this issue, and in addition, has not produced a comprehensive plan to take care of the illegal immigration plan.

All candidates are politicians not to be trusted; they do not even trust one another. How are we too trust them? Laws and bills have been written for generations that they all can not totally be comprehended even by attorneys and politicians them selves! Our immigration laws do not succeed to correct illegal immigration when federal and local governments ignore these laws is absolutely the most correct statement on print to date. That is big time problems with cities that are adopting sanctuary policies to aid illegal aliens. Sanctuary cities become hideouts that encourage illegal immigration and undermine securing our borders hold true in ever scene of our nation’s security. It is not just a few towns and cities and/or a few singular states it is all over the US; who are they trying to fool, we live here also, and we witness each and every day. If our government leaders do not take action soon, I do believe the legal American citizens will subject illegal alien’s too difficult times for their futures.

A very good point here is; at the moment these people either stayed here on expired visas and/or stepped across our borders they are breaking our laws! Illegal aliens know what they have done when entering or staying illegally and will continue to break our laws out of no respect as long as they stay here. What is our best know reason for our federal and local governments not to follow laws created by them selves? Go after our government entities, large corporate firms, agricultural farmers, large construction firms and landscape employers that will hire illegal aliens for starters. Small businesses can not afford stiff penalties and/or fines apposed on legal Americans for hiring illegal aliens, also the practice of hiring illegal aliens unknowingly buy smaller businesses it is rare.

Cut off all aid funding for illegal immigrants, close the doors on all programs that aid influx of illegal aliens and reopen the doors for legal tax paying citizens of this country! All of our countries elite and politicians of federal and local governments may suffer their own downfall when ignoring the people and not just ignoring their own written laws.

Sorry you got misunderstood. I wrote my masters thesis on internet sarcasm, so I know how often it goes awry. It’s a lot safer to keep it literal. Now on to the subject at hand:

You say I live on the “left coast” and have a “far left agenda”, which is just wrong. You east coast folks from states the size of postage stamps have no idea how big and diverse California is. (You could drop Massachusetts in one of our valleys and never notice it). I live in a conservative inland farm town 275 miles from LA. We grow lettuce, spinach, artichokes and strawberries along with hundreds of other vegetables you eat every day. (If you live entirely on raw red meat, we raise that, too) Salinas is heartland. And I’m a fiscal conservative, unlike you Republicans who’ve spent trillions we don’t have on a senseless war and tax cuts for your rich friends. Finally, on this immigration issue my position is almost identical to that of President Bush and Senator McCain (and Romney and Giuliani before they flip-flopped), who are hardly members of the radical left. I’m not pushing some extremist agenda. This is just simple economics and common decency.

We do indeed live in a shining city on a hill. Outside that city we’ve placed two signs. One says “Keep out”, the other says “Help wanted”. If your family was hungry, which sign would you pay attention to? It’s time we face our own hypocrisy. We lure undocumented workers to this country with the promise of jobs they need to survive. No one else wants these jobs and we can’t get by without them. We eat the food undocumented laborers provide and then we call them criminals for doing the back-breaking work we hired them for in the first place. Yes they broke the law and I don’t condone that. But honesty demands that we take some responsibility for enticing them to break that law. We entrapped them and it’s time we admitted it. Let’s make them pay a fine and let them get back to the work we need them to do. These people are not here to commit crimes. They’re here to pick strawberries. They aren’t terrorists. They’re farmers. They love America. They pay their taxes. They do their jobs. If you don’t respect the work they do, I’d suggest you show the courage of your convictions and stop eating. Meanwhile, I’m still waiting for an answer to the question I’ve now asked in seven posts:

Who is going to pick the crops in my valley once you’ve spent our tax dollars to deport the people who put the food on your table?

After you kick out everyone who didn’t fill out the proper forms, are you going to come out to Salinas and pick lettuce, Tom? Or are you just going to sit back in Massachusetts and take pot shots at the hard-working immigrants who feed your family?

Lest anyone forget, these are not just some innocent immigrants in search of a better life; they're stealing someone else's. They are STEALING AMERICANS’ IDENTITIES as well as TAX FUNDED WELFARE BENEFTS. Even legal immigrants send Billions out of our Economy and this doesn't show love of America, it shows immigrants taking advantage of us Americans who don’t get our taxes back, only immigrants who leave after seven to ten years get taxes back. Some contribution… When every American is fed, housed, healthy, educated and employed, then and only then should we even be considering giving away our very limited and very precious resources to people who don't belong here. There is only so much land available and then it's gone. What then? I guess the Christian thing to do would be to sacrifice your own children, grandchildren, etc., for the immigrants because they deserve to live and Americans do not deserve to live.

You wrote, "After you kick out everyone who didn’t fill out the proper forms, are you going to come out to Salinas and pick lettuce, Tom? Or are you just going to sit back in Massachusetts and take pot shots at the hard-working immigrants who feed your family?"

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Hi David,

Tom is quite capable of speaking for himself – I just wanted to weigh-in on your question.

Farther north of you in the Sacramento valley and Sierra Foothills our primary crops are tomatoes, rice, alphafa, apples, pears, etc. While I'm not a farmer, I work in an industry (insurance) where a number of farmers are my clients.

They most all agree – employing LEGAL immigrants is not unreasonable or impossible. Do you think because an immigrant goes through the citizenship process he no longer wants to work? Once a member of the family becomes a citizen they can sponser other family members.

I am very PRO immigrant and I appreciate the hard working ethic most immigrants bring to our country. With long lines for legal immigration, there are be plenty of folks interested in taking over the work the illegal immigrants lose by going through the proper process.

Stephanie writes: “these are not just some innocent immigrants in search of a better life; they're stealing someone else's”

But that’s my point, Stephanie. They aren’t. No one else around here wants these jobs.

Jon from Sacramento makes some excellent points, and writes:
“What is wrong with insisting that ALL immigrants comply with US laws?”

Nothing at all. That’s what I want, too. I don’t like the system we have now one bit. Not only does it let the good farm-workers we need come through, it also lets the real criminals and the drug-mules. So I’m all for fixing the system. I want secure borders, too. And I never want to give illegal workers a job that a legal immigrant or an American citizen wants. Not a farm job, not a construction job, not a Wal-mart job. Never. I’m a patriot, not a radical. If there are Americans or legal immigrants who want the jobs they should get them. But in area most of those people can do a lot better than picking spinach. I’m just trying to come up with something that will work in my valley, and not in the make-believe world of talk radio.

What I don’t want to do is deport a bunch of people we need, (who are already doing their jobs in peace, minding their business and paying their taxes) who have families here who ARE citizens, and shipping them out of the country to wait in line while we scramble around to replace them and the fruit rots on the vine. That just doesn’t make sense. (By the way on a pragmatic level it’s just not going to happen, not because of liberal values and immigrants-rights groups but because of conservative lobbyists working for Dole and Green Giant).

BTW, Tom and I are up a few stories fighting about Hilary Clinton. I’m sure he’ll be down here eventually.

You wrongly started the name calling (homophobe and xenophobe and I just returned volley).

First off, I agreed with the war, but disagreed with the execution of the war and like you I find great promise in Bidens idea, but only after the surge is attempted and we give the government a little more time (I am so pissed off that they took a month of during this while our men and women are still fighting).

As for the tax cuts for the rich, I am so tired of this, tax cuts were across the board for everyone that ACTUALLY PAYS taxes and those tax cuts (one of the few things that a president can do to spur the economy) got us out of the Clinton recession (making it the shortest in history).

The other thing a President can do is pass NAFTA, but instead of helping lower and middle class people it is killing us, but your president Clintin did that.

He also came up with the don't ask, don't tell military philosophy, does that make him a homophobe or does that only apply to Repubs?

Your narrow minded view on illegal immigration is admirable, only because you do care about the folks near you.

But I have never said that many of these folks were not hard workers that frankly put some of our welfare scammers to shame.

The fact is that not all ILLEGALS are hard workers, some are criminals, terrorists and layabouts that want to slurp off the countries resources. It is to bad that the good get treated with the bad. We need to.

We need to expedite the process where the folks that have been waiting and doing it legally, get the first and immediate crack at the American dream.

Upgrade the damn computer system and have people in charge that are numbers geeks, but can get the job done as tracking is the most important part of this.

Borders secured via a wall and guards. If you to cross in you get shot as you are breaking into our country.

No more anchor babies, that is the dumbest law this country (Kennedy) ever passed.

The debt the illegals pay that are here should be enough that nobody will ever want to do it illegally again and if the don't, deportation.

All should be required to sign in and announce their citizenship intentions to the government and after say 3 to 6 months, those who have not, get deported immediately with NO hope for ever becoming a legal. We need to know who is here for obvious reasons.

After this period, any employee that hires someone that can't produce proof that they did submit their names will receive hefty, hefty fines just as a first resort.

The employer must also pay at LEAST the minimum wage at the time.

They all should be required to learn basic English.

No more sanctuary cities, states or towns.

After all these criteria are met and the good are weeded out from the bad, we need to expedite a temporary guest worker program that allots so many spots for REAL workers (Randomly is the only way to do it, and if you don't make it, back home and your first in line, if and when the amount is expanded or the others fail)that lasts no more than 3 years and after that time, if all of the above criteria are not met, they lose their status and must return home and get back in line.

If they do meet the criteria, citizenship can be met through the new EXPEDITED channels.

Right. That’s what I’m for, too. But the anti-immigration folks are the same ones fighting a legal guest worker program. There’s no way a poor farmer from Mexico can fight his way through the bureaucracy to get a legal temporary visa. Set up a legitimate system that works and I’ll go along with it. Until then, stop talking about deporting the labor we need. It’s not going to happen.

"Travis asks: 'Who could possibly be for illegal immigration?'
"And it’s a good point, because none of us are, even those of us who support ..."

There are many people who support illegal immigration: businesses that employ them, women who hire them as maids, men who hire them to do yard work, children who have come to love their Latina Nanny who has cared for them for years, school districts who employ them as janitors and cafeteria workers, loan sharks who exploit them, their legal relatives here in the US, Western Union who collects millions in money order fees and wire transfers, and – most of all – the children and parents to whom they send money.

This problem cannot be solved because no majority of Americans will ever agree on any particular solution. No matter what solution is proposed, powerful constituencies will block that solution. Our leadership and our voters (us) have ignored this problem since the 1930's when a serious deportation effort took place. We never look at the long term consequences of any policy that is convenient for the moment. Supporters of slavery certainly didn't look ahead a few generations to imagine the problems they were creating for the nation. Now we have a mess. Now we have a big problem that was once a small problem.

So, what can we do then? Commit ourselves to a few generations of cultural conflict, encourage school disctricts to teach all children English and Spanish, and require US corporations working in Mexico to pay high wages to their workers there. And, we can also explain to our children why we were so negligent in managing the nation before handing it over to them.

"There’s no way a poor farmer from Mexico can fight his way through the bureaucracy to get a legal temporary visa."

Millions of other people already have. So he can do it too.

"stop talking about deporting the labor we need"

They don't need to be deported. All it takes is for the CURRENT laws on the books to be enforced.

Which is EXACTLY what Dubya refuses to do.

Only 318 employers out of five and a half million in this country have been prosecuted for hiring illegal aliens since 2001 and the number of ICE agents assigned to enforce current immigration laws in the workplace have decreased from only 240 back in 1999 to now less than 100.

Cut off their source of income, and they'll leave voluntarily rather than starve to death – no mass deportations needed.